Silver Spring business fined for violations

The Maryland Department of the Environment released a list of 46 waste management and 23 air and radiation enforcement actions earlier this month that included two businesses in the Silver Spring area.

Kalgon Properties, a Silver Spring-based real estate management company, was cited on July 9 for failing to comply with state lead laws and not distributing information to tenants at one of the company's properties at 2607 Garret Ave. in Baltimore. The case opened April 2008 with an investigation into a child at the property who suffered lead poisoning. The department has issued a complaint and fined the company $40,000, according to MDE Director of Communications Robert D. Ballinger.

The case was handed over to the Maryland Attorney General's office, he said. Because the victim is so young, Ballinger could not provide details about the case but said the investigation was ongoing.

"The child that lived there had a very high lead level, that's why that fine was so high," he said. "That child has received medical attention."

Schanette Paskel, spokeswoman for the attorney general's office, explained that the case dealt with noncompliance to state lead paint laws and was settled on Oct. 8.

"While the order asked for $40,000, the actual settlement was $4,000 along with the replacement of the windows [of the Baltimore property]" Paskel said, saying the window replacement was a major concession that helped soften the attorney general's demands.

Paskel could not provide details about the settlement, but confirmed that the original complaint regarded a poisoned child with high lead levels. She said the building is now vacant.

The telephone number for Kalgon Properties's Silver Spring location has been disconnected.

The department also received $1,500 from Woodmoor Getty Inc., a gas station at 10144 Colesville Road in Silver Spring, in response to an administrative settlement letter issued for violations of stage two vapor recovery requirements.

Those requirements for gas service stations can include special nozzles or instruments to be used on vehicle refueling hoses that help minimize the escape of gas fumes that can be dangerous to both service station users and the environment, according to the department's Web site.

Woodmoor Getty owner Imran Uddin, who has been in the gas service business for 15 years, said the fine was issued when he failed to file his yearly inspection report to the department.

"We do have people come by from the environment department and make sure we're up to date and all," he said. "I do try to keep up to date with the inspections and requirements. … This time we just misplaced the form."